Long Live the Lecture: At Least Some of the Time

Christine Harrington Professor - Middlesex County College

Todd Zakrajsek Associate Professor - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

If poor teaching was a criminal offense, could you be convicted solely on the basis of lecturing?  We don’t think so.  Of concern seems to be exactly where we are headed in higher education. Individuals not being promoted, failing to be granted tenure, or even dismissed, for using a “tainted approach” while teaching: the lecture.

If you still lecture, you are certainly not alone. In fact, you are among the majority of faculty.  Lecturing continues to be one of the most commonly used teaching approaches (Berrett, 2012). Despite its’ prevalence and potential, lecturing has unfort